


Boundaries

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Disabled Character, F/M, Flirting, Friends already in love, Friendship/Love, Johnny Horton - Freeform, Kissing, Lola - Freeform, Past Relationship(s), Romance, SHIELD, Season 1, Season 2, Season 3 Speculation, Secret Relationship, Secret Warriors - Freeform, Skye runs the Index, Supportive Relationship, Teasing, The Index, Undercover, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Welcome Wagon, taking it slow
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-28
Updated: 2015-05-28
Packaged: 2018-04-01 15:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4024675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-Season 2 finale. I just wanted to write a fic that explored Coulson and Skye being way into each other, but also, taking things slow.  At the same time knowing what they want and what they meant to each other and their plans going forward.</p><p>I think I just might periodically update this one over the course of the hiatus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Temptation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye and Coulson's relationship realigns as the result of the Season 2 finale.

"Look who's all dressed up."

She eyed him walking into the command center, empty, save for her leaning over in front of the monitor, a file box sitting beside her on a nearby table.

"Finished an op," he said, coming towards her, looking pleased. "Got an aisle seat. And here I am."

"What kind of op?" she said, standing up straight holding a file in her hand.

"Undercover."

"Obviously," she said, looking at his suit jacket and unbuttoned shirt. "Tell me about it."

"Fundraiser. Data exchange. Ex-HYDRA guy. They'll hand over anything for the right price."

"Yeah?" she said, leaning back against the table. "Who with?"

"Bobbi," he said, swinging his overnight bag off his shoulder down onto the floor. "Getting her feet wet again."

"I bet she looked great," Skye said wistfully.

He thought about it. "Yup."

"How did it feel to be back in the field?"

"It wasn't high risk," he said, walking closer to her, looking down at the stack of files to one side, before he flipped the top one open.

"That's not what I asked."

He took in a deep breath, still not meeting her eyes. "Useful?"

She glanced at the sling. "I think it makes you look dangerous."

"I _am_ dangerous," he said with a pained expression, looking back up at her.

"Yes, well, I wouldn't know about danger and all of that," she gestured around them. "Because I've been setting up systems for your-"

" _Our_ ," he corrected.

" _Our_ off-the-books op. In our secret base."

"Is that your way of telling me you'd like to get some fresh air?" he asked, looking back down at the folder, starting to read it.

She tilted her head at him, expressionless, until he acknowledged her.

"Okay, then, let's go out," he said, closing the file. "I haven't had dinner. You?"

"Not yet," she said. "Should I dress for the occassion?"

"No. Just wear your field suit. It'll be totally inconspicuous," he said, shrugging at her.

Skye rolled her eyes and walked towards him and handed him the file she was holding. All the old Index files hidden away in a subbasement back at the Playground. No one would notice if boxes were switched out one at a time.

"Analog. You can take over while I get ready."

"I'm one handed," he pleaded.

"Voice activated," she said, walking away, then turned to smile back at him. "Got you covered."

"Perfect."

He sighed as she left, walking towards the holo display.

  
#

  
"So what kind of people come to a place like this?" she asked, looking over their table.

The expensive flowers, the nice china. Utensils that weren't plastic.

It had been awhile since she'd eaten something that didn't come out of a box first.

She'd been looking around, feeling like they didn't exactly fit in here.

Or, maybe it was just her that didn't fit.

"People that wonder what someone like me, is doing with someone like you," he said, staring down at the menu.

They were getting a lot of stares.

"And what kind of someone is that?" she asked.

He frowned for a moment, thinking of how to put it tactfully. "Someone with money?"

She crossed her fingers together and leaned forward. "Maybe they just think you have a hidden talent."

His eyes met hers sharply for a moment, then he smiled and leaned forward, setting the menu down.

"Just pretend that we're undercover."

"Good idea," she said, relaxing a little, and picking up her menu. "How did we meet, anyway?"

"Comic book convention," he said, lifting up his glass to take a drink of water. "You were cosplaying, and I-"

" _Really_?" she asked. He'd never mentioned that, all of this time, not a word, and it was only that one-

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," he said, with a mischievous smile.

"That you're a comic book nerd?" she asked. "Or that you like to dress up like-"

"The first one," he said quickly, setting down the glass and raising his hand as the waiter walked over.

She encouraged him to order some wine and then they were alone again.

"Let me guess?" she said, sitting back and crossing her arms. "Captain America memorabilia?"

"Mostly," he said.

"And how long have you had this secret?"

"Not sure, exactly," he said. "My dad liked Captain America comics. I remembered finding a pile of them in the garage. When I was six?"

She paused for a moment, thinking it over. Undercover 101, give real details, not too many. "I only cosplayed to meet Tony Stark."

"Stark _does_ like the ladies," he said, raising his eyebrows in a slightly disgusted manner.

"I had my reasons," she said, staring back at him. "I wanted to hack his JARVIS program, alright?"

"Bold," he said, leaning forward a little.

"I wanted to piggyback it into SHIELD, because you guys were hiding info on my parents, and then you'd never trace it back to me," she replied quickly.

"That's what I figured," he said, nonplussed.

"You're not even going to ask me who I cosplayed as?"

"Should I?" he paused, looked a little concerned, as the waiter came back with wine, let him taste it, then poured for them both.

"Captain America."

His eyes widened slightly for just a moment, as Skye nodded back at him eagerly.

"But we should probably figure out what we're eating, right?" she said, hiding her face behind the menu before she cracked up.

#

  
"C'mon, you know how I've been itching to go undercover," she said, her hands around his neck.

"Yes, but I didn't think it would be with me," he said, seeming a bit uncomfortable, but a little loose from the drinks as well.

They swayed to the piano music near the bar.

"What's wrong with _you_?" she asked him.

"Nothing, I'm just-"

"Go ahead," she said, eyeing him, biting back a grin.

"Older."

She sighed up at him as he gave her an apologetic smile.

"In my family, we draw the line at a hundred. You're not a hundred and twenty-seven, are you?"

He couldn't help but smile and looked away from her triumphant expression, sliding his arm along her back. "Alright," he said, as she pressed her face against his neck. " _Alright_."

"How is this secret partnership going to work if you can't handle a little slow dancing? I thought our undercover personas knew each other."

"They just met last weekend," he answered back immediately, as she felt him swallow against her cheek.

"And you bought me another cocktail? What kind of girl do you think I am?"

"The kind that likes whiskey," he said. "And no boundaries whatsoever."

"You know I like boundaries," she teased, meeting his eyes. "They're really important for testing exploits. To figure out what you're getting yourself into. Who you're dealing with."

"They're not really useful if you can just get around them," he answered coyly.

"They are if your mark still thinks they're in place."

His hand fell away from her back and he stopped moving.

"Maybe we should call it a night."

"It was a joke," she started.

"I think this has already gone far enough, don't you?"

"Is this the part of undercover where we pretend to argue to create a distraction?"

She said it like she was joking, but her face had lost its humor.

"No," he said, reaching for his wallet, then putting his hand on her arm. "I'm going to go settle the tab, okay?"

Waiting for a moment she followed back to the bar realizing she was standing in the middle of the room by herself.

She leaned against it while he waited for the bartender to bring the bill.

"I'm sorry," he said. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have-"

"It was nice, though," she said, interrupting him.

"It was," he agreed.

#

  
"The truth is, I don't have good boundaries when it comes to you."

Twenty minutes into the silent car ride home, he _finally_ managed to say something.

"Is that why you brought it up?" she asked, looking away from the road a moment to peer at him through the darkness, as the wind cut across her hair.

"I don't know. Maybe?" he said, turned towards her. "It's not your fault."

"Stop saying that," she said, gripping the wheel, eyes on the road. "I know it's not my fault."

"Skye, the reason we had those policies in SHIELD was to protect our agents. To avoid our people being compromised."

"You mean like when Garrett had me shot so that you would give up the GH-325? Or when, you didn't take out my father because you still believed there was good in him?"

"Is this supposed to be helping?" he asked, biting his lower lip.

"Do you regret giving me the GH-325, or letting my father live?" she asked, trying to control her frustration.

"Of course not," he answered immediately.

"Because you were doing the right thing. That's not being compromised," she said, staring back at him. "Trust that I, of all people, would let you know when I don't think you're doing the right thing."

He wasn't sure what to say to that.

Because, it was true.

She'd always done that for him. Just like he'd always tried to keep her focused on the larger picture.

"I've been thinking about this lately.  A lot," she said. "Whether or not it's fair to you, I'm not sure. I lost something I never thought I'd have, and it made me realize how much I want it."

"Family."

"Not just my parents, but the family that I choose. And right now, I don't know what I am. SHIELD. Inhuman. But then there's you, and I-"

"Skye," he said, feeling like he'd missed something important. Again. 

"You're not just SHIELD to me, Coulson."

"I know that," he said, his voice hitching.

"And this mission," she asked. "Is it just SHIELD?"

"No," he said, staring back at her, shaking his head. "It's not. We should talk about this more."

"And anyway, you're the one who compared me to your sexy red sports car," she groused.

"Yes I did."

#

  
They were standing in the hallway to the living quarters, staring.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow, okay?" he said. "It's late."

"Alright."

She started to turn away from him, her shoes already in her hand.

"I should've told you this earlier, but, you look really...you're beautiful."

He heard her stop and sigh, then continue on down the hall, as she opened the door to her quarters and stepped inside.

What an idiot.

He let go of a breath he'd held and leaned against the wall, rubbing his hand across his face.

It's not that he minded being wrong. It was just...how had he not seen this coming?

They didn't see each other alone as often as they used to, but when they did, it was like this. For days at a time. And it was just the two of them getting this op up and running.

Whatever boundaries he had left were eroded. And she was his family now.

He needed to sleep on it.

As he walked down the corridor, mulling it over he passed her door and froze.

It was open.

Oh no.

Boundaries. Dammit.

He took a step forward and held himself there. It reminded him of a time, once before, when he'd stopped himself from knocking at her door.

He remembered regretting that. When he thought he'd run out of time, being under that machine, Raina reminding him of what had been done to him by SHIELD,  and all that this life had cost him.

When he'd left Skye at the safehouse, that feeling of dread hanging over him. Like something was missing.

Closing his eyes for a moment, he crossed just inside of the room, then opened them.

Skye was standing with her back to him, the dress was gone, and instead the t-shirt she had put on was just being pulled down around her waist.

"Are you staying?" she asked, quietly, turning over her shoulder.

"We need to talk," he answered, sliding his arm out of the jacket, and reaching over to unclip the sling holding his other arm against him.

Slipping it off his shoulder, he took the jacket off the rest of the way, folding it in half and draped it over the back of a chair.

"Do you need help with the buttons?" she asked.

"It-," he started, pointing. "I have a thing in my bag," he went on, going quiet as she put her hands against the first button and start to take it apart.

Smiling as she ended at his belt, she stopped. "Do you need help with-"

"No," he said quickly. "I've got the rest."

She left him to it and went to climb under the covers of her bed.

He turned and looked outside of the door into the empty hallway once more before shutting it.

#

  
Her legs were cold .

She stirred awake and noticed that the covers had been kicked off to the foot of the bed, were trailing down the side to the floor.

Coulson's warm arm was around her waist.

Picking up her phone she squinted, looked at the time.

A bit early still. Besides, they weren't on SHIELD's schedule, exactly.

I mean they were, _but_.

She breathed in and turned as much as she could without waking him, his sleeping face pressed against her shoulder in the dim light. His even breathing.

Staying up and talking so late, until they had both drowsed off.

She remembered feeling him kiss the back of her neck before she faded away.

It had been so nice. Almost as nice was the way he was curled against her now, molded against her back. Stealth cuddler, kicking away the covers in the middle of the night. It might make her have to adjust some of her ideas.

Not too much, though.

Reaching with her leg, she tried to grab at the covers with her toes.

Unsuccessful, he started to stir at her movements, and his hand slipped beneath her shirt to cover her stomach as he pulled her closer against him.

Now she was suddenly warm again, and also wide awake.

Simmons had told her, enthusiastically, about how Audrey had described him one night when they'd shared a few too many beers. Like she couldn't believe that  was _their_ Coulson.

What if it was and it wasn't?

Like meeting Miles at a time when she needed to be reminded who she really was, and why all this mattered.

It was something she'd always be grateful for, no matter how things had ended.

This wasn't that at all. She wasn't just holding on to get her balance again.

His careful, cautious nature had given her the space she needed.

So she put it all away for the moment, and slid out slowly from under his arm, until he was resting again and breathing softly against the bed.

Then she got ready for her morning routine.

Like she always did.

But she couldn't help kissing his forehead just before she left.

It was too much of a temptation.


	2. Agent Johnson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skye starts laying out her plans to build a team.

He slowly opened his eyes to find himself alone.

In her bed.

He looked around the room then reached for the clock on the bedside table.

Damn. He'd overslept.

No, she'd let him sleep in, he corrected himself, sitting up and swinging his legs over the side of the bed.

Things the night before hadn't _exactly_ gone the way he'd expected. Then again, he didn't have the feeling of anxiety that had come with the idea of things going the way he'd expected.

She was something else.

He found himself smiling as he pushed up off the bed and made his way towards his clothes, flipping the light switch.

They were still folded over the chair, but now his overnight bag was on the table, too.

He unzipped it with a series of short tugs, took out the toiletry bag and carried it into the bathroom.

Seeing her things all around him gave way to him picking out details.

Her hair dryer, two different hairbrushes (so that's why her hair always looked so good), a small makeup bag.

Smaller than his, actually. Hm.

The nails in wall had a few necklaces hanging from them. He touched one, remembered them all, instantly recalling a few of the moments he'd catalogued them, pretending not to.

Did he still have to pretend?

This felt nice. _Real_.

Like he didn't have to be just SHIELD.

Popping open his bag, he took out his toothbrush and toothpaste, looking over his face, deciding if he really wanted to shave.

He always thought a lot while shaving.

He decided to shave.

Skye had told him last night about her fears. How wanting to trust her mother so much had made her doubt herself. That erasing her father made her feel like she'd just erased the past she'd wanted to reclaim.

She wasn't feeling sorry for herself. It was the truth.

And now she was in between, with the Inhumans on one side and SHIELD on the other.

He didn't want to just be SHIELD to her anymore.

#

He found her in the kitchen, wearing her workout gear, still sweating out her routine.

She was sitting on the counter, eating a piece of buttered toast, with a blue file in her hand.

Turning the pages delicately with buttery fingers.

"Oh, hey," she said, looking up as he walked towards her, heading straight for the coffee pot.

"Morning," he replied.

He took a mug out of the pantry and started to pour, looking down at the file with the name "Horton" spelled out on the tab.

"This file is 30 years old," he said, a small, disapproving frown as he brushed some crumbs off of it.

"I know," she answered. "You're going to like this part."

Taking his cup he went to sit down at the round table in the middle of the room.

"Wait for it," she said, watching him take a careful first sip of the hot, fresh coffee.

He sighed with satisfaction, the familiar taste already making him feel more like his caffinated self.

"You're not looking for them," he finally answered. "You're looking for their kids."

"Bingo," she grinned. "The ones on the Index and the ones that were locked up. Like this guy Horton."

"The one with lion paws for hands?" he asked, with a dubious expression, taking another sip.

" _Coulson_."

Hopping down from the counter, the piece of toast in her hand, she walked towards him and sat in the chair across him.

"What if these guys were like my dad?" she asked, excitedly. "What if they got invited, but didn't get to _party_ , if you know what I mean?"

"They experimented on themselves," he said, following her. "Tried to draw out what was already inside of them."

"Yes!"

He couldn't help but get a little excited at her enthusiasm.

"This is why you get to be in charge," he said, watching her take a bite of the toast. "Even with your buttery fingers on SHIELD's files."

"I know," she conceded. "Bad, right?"

"Leaving fingerprints is probably not a _great_ idea," he said. "But it's really brilliant, Skye."

She practically beamed at him.

"Agent Johnson."

"I'm sorry, who?"

"If we're going to keep this... _thing_ a secret," she added, taking another bite. "We should be more about careful how we interact back at HQ."

"We don't really have an HQ," he said, not liking where this was going.

She sighed. "It's an organization now, whether we like it or not. The other SHIELD is part of it, and they have a different approach to doing things."

"You're right."

He really didn't like it, though.

#

What they had set in motion.

Those words had come back to her again throughout the day.

Working beside him felt like the most natural thing in the world to her at this point.

He'd kind of pulled back a little when she suggested they be more lowkey when they were at SHIELD, but she wasn't going to push.

By now she knew him well enough to guess that he was working through how that would look and how it might be received by people closest to them.

And she wanted _this_ for herself.

Something that didn't belong to SHIELD after losing so much.

He'd told her last night that the thought of losing SHIELD made him angry. Played right into what he's been wrestling with when he started rebuilding.

 _And_ that the idea of losing her was unthinkable, as irrational as it was, he couldn't even entertain it.

He just had to find her.

That he'd been searching for her the whole time.

Maybe she knew that deep down. But it was different hearing him say it out loud, staring back at her like that with his head on her pillow.

Being so careful with his words. He was always so careful.

He woke her out of her thoughts by meeting her eyes with a puzzled smile.

"I've been thinking," he said, walking over to her and tossing the file onto the processed pile. "How would you feel about letting me take you out later?"

An early dinner, since he was flying back tonight.

"Yeah," she said, nodding, finding herself almost blushing. _How old was she, anyway?_

He looked down at the floor for a moment. "You know I'm asking you out on a-"

"Date. Yes," she finished for him. "And I'm saying yes, so..."

"Good," he replied, staring at her a little longer before picking up another file from the box and heading back to work.

She watched him, finding herself looking at him the way she had after that mission with Hannah.  After she was tucked away, when he'd told her that she'd be really good at this.

She was going to show him just how right he'd been.

Even if it meant having to let go of the doubts that had been crowding her.

#

“Can I have a word?”

Coulson looked up to see May standing inside the door, while he and Skye were in a huddle in his office.

“Of course,” Coulson said, looking over at Skye. “Agent Johnson, if you don’t mind?”

She nodded back at him and took the file from his hand and gave May a friendly glance on the way out.

“Agent Johnson?” May asked, raising her eyebrows when she was gone.

“We thought it was important, with the two SHIELDs coming together, to be more-“

“Since when have the two of you _ever_ been professional?” May asked.

Coulson frowned back at her. 

“Phil, I mean with _each other_.”

He relaxed a little and walked closer to her. “Thanks to Gonzales’ very public comments, people are under the impression that we share a certain kind of relationship.  One which might suggest favoritism.”

“Skye _is_ your favorite.”

“Are you referring to Agent Johnson?”

“Look," May said, rolling her eyes. "Tasha had to deal with the same kinds of criticisms, so did Maria.  She can handle it.”

“Yes," he paused. "And I feel like we’re walking a fine line. It’s not just our team anymore. It’s an organization.  The way that Inhumans and SHIELD interact is going to be scrutinized by both sides.”

“That’s right,” she agreed. “But your team is still here, inside of that organization.  And Skye is still a part of that team, Inhuman and all.”

He gave her a grateful smile for that reminder.

“You're right. How can I be of help, Agent May?”

"You can start by not putting 'agent' in front of everyone's name," she said. "Andrew's made some headway with his evaluations of our new organization."

"Yes, I've been catching up on his reports."

"Me, too," she agreed. "And I'm concerned. There's a pattern. Almost all of them were either against Fury's Avengers Initiative, or they've had traumatic encounters with gifteds."

"Yup."

"Which...is why you wanted me looking at it," she sighed, uncrossing her arms.  "They're already nervous you put Skye in charge of the Index."

He reached out his hand to her, wanting to connect, letting it land on her shoulder. "You came out on the other side of it, May, but you've been there.  You're the best person to keep an eye on this, and I need your eyes right now."

"Yeah, you really do," she answered with a smirk.  

"How are things with you and Andrew?" he asked, trying to evade her insinuation.

She gave a small shrug, a wry smile pulling up a corner of her mouth as she delivered her reply in a very loaded tone.

"We were always good together."

#

"Are you here to help me box up some files?"

"Not really", he said, stepping into the room and quietly closing the door behind him.

"Are you here to...do that thing we said we wouldn't do here?"

"I'll confess," he said, hovering near the door. "It was on my mind."

"Already breaking rules. So unlike you," she teased, setting the file down to walk towards him.

The last time they'd been _really_ alone, they'd dined at a favorite food truck of his in the metro area, then ended up parked by the water, where they made out in Lola until she'd had to drop him at the airport at the last minute.

It had been on her mind, too.

She smoothed his tie down with her hand, then brought it up to wriggle her finger into the knot and loosen it.

Already, his breathing had gone more shallow as he watched her, mesmerized.

It made her weak in the knees seeing him look at her like that.  Someone she didn't have to hide from, worrying that some part of her past, or her ideals, or what she was would get in the way.

"I like the way you kiss me."

So, he kissed her. Remembering what it was like to kiss her for the first time all over again.  The way she moved with him so easily, like they were already on the same page.

Skye was everything he'd told himself he'd never have.  

The impossible made somehow possible, and-

" _Coulson_." 

Her voice, like that, with her lips against his, her fingers grasping at his shirt.

It was like she reverberated through his whole body.  

His mouth moved to her neck, placing soft kisses there as he made his way up to her ear.

" _Phil_."

He felt her fingers tighten across his back, and the throbbing pressure began building in him again.  The tension that told him something needed to happen before this was taken away from him.

This was more than enough. 

" _Phil_ ," she repeated, before pressing her lips to his again, sliding her fingers along the back of his neck, as he drew back.

"I'm an idiot, you know."

She tried not to laugh, tugging on his tie, thinking about a time when he'd told her not to call him that.

"No," she answered, biting on her lower lip. "I _was_ testing your boundaries."

"And I should've trusted my feelings," he said. "Instead of trying to follow protocol.  Maybe I wouldn't have wasted so much time? I had two hands back then," he joked, shrugging his shoulder with the sling across it.

Or maybe he did the right thing, taking all of this slow.  

She had joined SHIELD because she liked him as her way inside.  How he listened and didn't just come back at her with all the excuses she'd heard for most of her life to that point.

He had opened a door and given her an even bigger view.

"Is this your way of telling me you liked me even then?" she asked, dropping that train of thought for the moment.

She already knew the answer.  He'd more or less put the idea on the table when he'd compared her to Lola.

"I think you know the answer to that," he said, touching her hair with his hand, his fingers lightly caressing her cheek.

"For what it's worth," she replied. "I still think you're... _cool_."

"Thanks," he said. "For a lot of things."

There was obviously more behind that, and she wanted to hear it, but not with SHIELD pressing up against it.  

After all, his absence would be noticed, and it was no good having him traced to this room, with them together in it, making their secret plans. 

"So. When can I see you again?" she asked, sliding her hands along the front of his shirt.  "Agent Johnson is _very_ busy," she continued, motioning towards the files in the room. "But... _Skye_ would like to spend some quality time alone with _Phil_."

Two weeks did seem, really, very tragically unfair.   _How old was he again?_

"I'll see what I can do," he replied, leaning forward to kiss her forehead as her arms squeezed him tight around the middle.

"I'm going to arrange a meeting with Rodriguez," she said, after he'd let go and was walking towards the door. 

They'd vetted it together.  Johnny Horton's daughter.

He was glad that she was taking the next step.

 

 


End file.
